The Merchant of Venice is about how Antonio, the title character, in order to lend money to his good friend Bassanio who wants to woo the rich widow Portia in Belmont, loans money from a Jewish moneylender Shylock, the antagonist of this play. Although Antonio and Shylock have some animosity between them , due to Antonio's disapproval and thus abuse of Shylock, they manage to strike a deal - if Antonio does not return the sum of money in three months, he has to grant Shylock a pound of flesh closes to his heart, effectively killing him. Shylock, being the cruel and greedy antagonist, has his daughter run away from him with a Christian, the religion which he hates, along with a portion of his wealth. Bassanio manages to woo Portia, but they learn that Antonio, due to his investments failing and unable to pay back the loan, is soon about to die at the hands of Shylock, the law unable to interfere. Bassanio rushes back to Venice but is unable to persuade Shylock to leave Antonio alone, even with the offer of three times the original amount of money, Bassanio having become richer through his marriage with Portia. Portia, disguised as a lawyer rushes to Venice and manages to save Antonio through a flaw in the bond, and soon, everyone is reunited and celebrating at Belmont.
Now, I shall be discussing a few of my favourite scenes. One of my favourite collection of scenes is probably the three casket scenes. The casket scenes were rather suspenseful, even though through the nature of the play being a comedy I had guessed the outcome, as one wonders why each of the casket is not the correct casket and how they relate to the inscriptions. The delivering of the messages of the significance of the caskets to the audience is also very effective, while meaningful at the same time. Each of the starting of the casket scenes purposefully creates a tense atmosphere, with the audience wondering about the outcome and how it will relate to the inscriptions. The outcomes and revelation of why each casket is a success or failure according to the messages of Portia's father are also rather easy to remember and thus carries their messages across effectively, for example, I'm sure that many who have read or watched the play before would remember the line "all that glisters is not gold". Of course, the messages of the silver and lead casket may not be as easy to remember, but that does not matter, because "all that glisters is not gold" is the main message. It tells us why Morocco fails, that is because he is vain and looks at appearances, and why Arragon fails as well, because his arrogance leads him to believe that he is the best, but he is soon made to realise that the egoistic viewing of oneself is not at all a desirable quality. Bassanio succeeds because he realises that appearances can be deceiving and is not fooled by the appearance of the caskets made of precious metals. This scene is extremely suitable to display the theme of deception, of appearance and reality, as appearances are what causes both Morocco and Arragon to in reality, fail.
Another favourite scene of mine is the court scene where Portia is disguised as a lawyer and has to destroy Shylock's claim to Antonio's pound of flesh in order to protect Antonio's life. The scene in the court manages to generate a large amount of suspense, where they show how Bassanio tries to plead with Shylock for mercy, and Shylock's unwillingness to stand down, fuelled by anger and hatred at all the unfair treatment by the Christian community. This makes the audience wonder how Portia would be able to defeat Shylock, as pleading with him for mercy, and offering him money definitely does not seem to do any good. When at the start Portia agrees with Shylock's claims, the audience feels almost shocked at Portia's apparent giving up of protecting Antonio, however it is soon realised that she is testing Shylock and in order to bring about a great downfall to him. Though some people question whether Portia's reducing of Shylock to a pitiable state is justified, it is the only way to prevent Shylock from trying to attempt something similar again. This scene is also very good at showing the theme of justice and mercy, where Shylock attempts to use the law to dish out justice to Antonio, refusing to show mercy. However, it backfires and the law is used to dish out justice to Shylock, but, in contrast, some mercy is shown to him.
I feel that The Merchant of Venice is a rather interesting piece of text, however, I feel that the long chunks of speech which do not contribute at all to the development of the play, typical of a Shakespearean comedy, is a factor which may put off many readers. Furthermore, it is meant to be watched as a play, not studied as a text, therefore it may not be as interesting as a piece of literature as compared to other texts such as To Kill A Mockingbird.
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